. >> reporter: the debate was moderated in a zen, low-key style by pbs' jim lehrer. >> think i had five seconds left. >> i think since he got the first word, i get the last word. >> reporter: when he included funding to be cut, he included lehrer's own program. >> i like big bird. i like you, too. but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: it was a debate full of numbers and domestic policy details. >> if the tax plan he described were a tax plan i would support, absolutely not. i'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. >> for 18 months, he's been running on this tax plan. and now, five weeks before the election, he's saying that his big, bold idea is, never mind. >> reporter: george, up until last night, the obama campaign had succeeded in turning this from a referendum on president obama to a choice. and they were painting mitt romney as an unacceptable alternative. but that dynamic seemed to change last night. it seemed to be very much a referendum on president obama. and mitt romney presented himself as a credible al